


Sentences and Smiles

by staristired



Category: Andi Mack (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, M/M, Minor Character Death, Soulmate-Identifying Marks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-01
Updated: 2019-01-01
Packaged: 2019-10-02 01:02:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,800
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17254697
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/staristired/pseuds/staristired
Summary: Your wrist reads the first thing that your soulmate will say to you. Let's just say that Marty's was quite interesting.





	Sentences and Smiles

Marty didn’t cuss. At all. His mom always told him, “You can’t cuss because your soulmate already has a potty mouth.”

It was funny, really. The day of his birth. They tell the tale every time some distant family member shows up and out of a conversation starter they use, “What’s it say on your wrist, Marty?” He usually had it covered up by this thick leather bracelet his mom made him for him.

When your baby is born, they usually hand them to you bundled in a blanket, you kiss their little forehead and then someone asks, "What’s their wrist say?” Whatever their wrist said was the first thing their soul mate would say to them.”

Marty’s moms got lucky. Elise’s said **That shade of blue is gorgeous** , and Amanda’s said **It’s my favorite.**

But when Elise was holding little Marty, kissing his forehead and cooing things, Amanda was the one that asked, “What’s the baby’s wrist say?”

“Mandy,” Elise had barely been able to smile, her hair still stuck to her forehead with sweat, “we just got the baby and you’re already trying to marry them off?”

“Well, I’m just curious,” Amanda said, reaching out for the little wrist that was resting on his cheek. Her eyes went wide when she read, smile getting wiped out before she gently tucked his blanket over his wrist.

“What is it?”

Amanda licked her chapped lips, “I’d rather not say.”

“Amanda,” Elise glared at her. She looked wiped out, but Amanda knew she could still do some damage if she tried.

“It says… uh, ‘are you’,” Amanda began to whisper, “’fucking kidding me’.”

“Are you fucking kidding me?”

“I’m not.”

“Holy shit.”

Marty thought that was the funniest story ever when he was growing up. He didn’t know why his moms forbade cussing when he had fuck written on his wrist, but he didn’t question it.

The bracelet are always wearing long sleeves was a suggestion from the school because in kindergarten, all the little kids liked to ask each other what their wrists said when they realized everyone else had them. Although hardly anyone could read, Marty was really popular the first week of school. But he wasn’t a teacher’s pet until the leather bracelet came along.

Marty had only met one person without a sentence on their wrist, and it was his next-door neighbor, Alexander Kippen. Alexander was two years older than him, so Marty thought he was the coolest person ever in the first grade when they both realized there was someone to play with nearby. Alexander taught him how to play basketball and always raced him down the street. He was a funny kid with a lot of “yo mama” and “that’s what she said” jokes neither of them understood. Alexander was always doing dumb but never dangerous things like collecting frogs and putting them in his bathtub or setting up a trap for a raccoon just because he wanted to pet it. Him and Marty liked tormenting his older twin sisters, Pamela and Macy, and without fail, they always told their parents. Whenever he was sad or had gotten in trouble over something, Marty would show him his wrist to make him laugh.

Sometimes, Marty would steal a sharpie from his mom and write the knock knock jokes from their popsicle sticks onto Alexander’s wrist, so he wouldn’t feel left out.

Alexander was Marty’s first crush if he really thought about him sometimes as he got older. He thought he just admired him a lot because was older and really cool.

When Alexander got hit by a car, time stopped for Marty. His moms had sat him down on the couch and told him Alexander wouldn’t be coming back, Marty sinking back into the leather couch, unable to respond to anything they were telling him, his fists creating friction in the cold fabric of the couch.

Then, without thinking, Marty ran out of the house, his moms trying to keep close behind him. Marty ran as fast as he could, each step sending a pound into his mind, trying to control his crying. He liked to think Alexander was still behind him, racing him. Marty was just starting to beat him in races, too.

Marty’s moms caught up with him as he sat down on the sidewalk in the corner of their block where him and Alexander would meet up with other kids from their neighborhood sometimes. Just last week, Alexander admitted to Marty that he was getting faster and that in no time, he’d be faster than him.

The Kippen’s moved not even a month after the funeral with the tiny casket, taking with them every last piece of Alexander.

Marty ran everyday until he eventually started forgetting fragments of Alexander. One by one they went- the freckles on his nose, the torn skin by his dirty fingernails, his light up sketchers, the color of his hair, the echo of his voice, and his crooked tooth smile. All he remembered was the distant structure of his face and the blankness of his wrist.

-

When Marty entered high school, he had a spot saved on the track team. He had done track in middle school, and he was breaking records here and there. He was ecstatic to be competing with other runners, more people he could beat while making friendships with.

Making friends was easy but finding them at lunch was a wreck. On the first day of school, he decided to sit down with some kids he had met over summer at conditioning. He walked around slowly, recognizing kids from middle school. He finally spotted the other runners in the corner of the cafeteria and with a sigh of relief, he started making his way over there.

Then he crashed into someone, both of their lunches spilling over the floor, sending Marty falling backwards onto the floor. There was laughter booming through the entire cafeteria.

The other person stayed standing, the tray loose in one hand as he looked down at Marty and said, “Are you fucking kidding me?”

Marty’s eyes quickly lit up and said the first think he could think of that didn’t involve cussing in the pressure of the moment, “Shut the front door.” The boy dropped the tray as a janitor quickly approached them with a broom, neither Marty or the boy who was now clutching his wrist moving.

“Alright boys,” the janitor said, handing the other boy two tickets that he quickly accepted, not breaking eye contact with a nervous Marty, “go get in line again.” The boy reached his hand out to Marty, Marty taking it and standing up silently. The cafeteria had already gone back to its regular business, probably forgetting the faces of Marty and if his gut was right, his soulmate.

Marty went to get in line again, the boy trailing right behind him. He was taller than Marty, and his shadow was making him nervous. Marty didn’t know if he should ask him something. Marty didn’t even know he was gay until now.

“Hey,” the boy said, nervously clearing his throat, “can I see your wrist?”

“Yeah,” Marty nodded, his hands shaking a little as he untied his bracelet from his wrist. “My name is Marty, by the way. Sorry for running into you.”

“My name is TJ,” he replied, not moving his eyes from the wrist. “Sorry, too, I guess.” When he read the wrist, he snorted, “Are you fucking kidding me?”

“Hardy har har,” Marty rolled his eyes, the nerves already starting to shake off. “What does your say?”

“What do you think it says, Smarty Marty,” TJ showed it to him.

“Shut the front door,” Marty read it aloud.

This was him. His soulmate was this tall boy that looked like he was going to stab him the first time he laid eyes on him.

“I didn’t think it would be said to me in this context, though,” TJ admitted. “Never in a million years.”

“Well, how do you think I feel? I’m going to carry this on me for forever,” Marty laughed, starting to put his bracelet back on.

“Is that why you cover it?” TJ asked, nodding his head up front so Marty could keep the lunch line going.

“Why else would you cover it? Especially on the first day of high school when it’s a conversation starter for everyone.”

“You got me there, I guess,” TJ said, wobbling back and forth between his heel and toes. “Do you want to sit together?”

“Well, duh,” Marty smiled at him, “I’d like to know how I’m going to get married to.”

-

Freshman year, the closet thing they got to do as a couple was hold hands. It was the Saturday before finals week in June when TJ snuck Marty out of his house, and he helped him climb out of his window.

Through the whole year, Marty and TJ just got to know little pieces of each other, here and there. They didn’t have any classes together, and they were both barely touching new sports and clubs. They didn’t want to worry about each other, at least just yet. His hadn’t even told his moms he had found him.

“Soulmates are weird,” Marty had told TJ one time. “Because we aren’t boyfriends right now, but I’m somehow committed to you?”

“I know, I get it,” TJ mumbled. “I feel like I’m going to fuck up and scare you away.”

“You haven’t, so,” Marty nudged him.

“Can we hold off for a little bit?” TJ asked him, running his hands through his hair.

“Like, just keep tabs on each other but not have to worry about making the other upset if we don’t talk for a week or more?”

“Yeah,” TJ frowned. “I didn’t think I was going to meet you so soon. People spend years searching for their soulmates. It’s weird. Not a lot of high school kids like us meet them.”

“It’s fine with me,” Marty told him. “Just don’t go catching feelings for anyone else because then we’re going to be in trouble with the law.”

“You think you can get arrested for dating someone other than your soulmate?” TJ asked, a smile on his face. Marty noted that he rarely smiled.

“I don’t know, but my mom is a cop, just letting you know,” Marty smiled at him.

Now, with the fear of getting caught by his mom who was on a night shift, Marty ran down the street hand in hand with TJ, trusting him completely as he led him through their town.

“Where are you taking me?” Marty breathed in through his nose as their feet stomped on the sidewalk, threatening to wake their sleeping neighbors.

“Something cool is happening at the lake,” TJ said, his breathing a little rigid. “I thought I should show my soulmate.” Marty smiled and when they approached the park, they stopped at the lake that was currently glowing with fireflies by the hundred.

Marty was hunched over, trying to regain his breath as he watched all of the little creatures float around. TJ pulled a blanket out of the drawstring bag he had and set it on the grass so that they could sit down.

“You’re not afraid of bugs, are you?” TJ asked as Marty plopped down next to him.

“No,” Marty quickly shook his head. “I used to eat them when I was younger.

TJ scrunched up his face and grinned, “Why?”

“I honestly don’t know,” Marty chuckled. “Me and my friends were weird like that.” They stayed silent for a few moments before Marty asked him, “Did you expect me to be a boy?”

“No,” TJ told him. “I’ve never liked girls, but I thought there was just something wrong with me or that it was just because I hadn’t met my soulmate yet. But meeting you made me feel better. I don’t feel so different anymore.” TJ paused and looked out at the lake, “Did you expect me to be a boy?”

“I don’t think I thought about meeting my soulmate too much, so I didn’t care. It’s just what happens naturally. I already told you I have two moms, and they met at Home Depot, so yeah. I just didn’t think I’d meet you in the cafeteria freshman year of high school.”

“I wonder what happens if you don’t like your soulmate,” TJ asked him, staring into all of the fireflies. He had his hands to his side, holding him up, and Marty really wanted to hold one.

“I think everyone does. They are your soulmate for a reason,” Marty responded.

TJ snorted, taking Marty aback as he said, “What if your soulmate is ugly?”

“You rarely laugh or smile and this is what makes you laugh?” Marty laughed along with him, TJ’s smile huge on his face.

“I’m just wondering,” TJ told him, still amused with his own question. “I guess it stops a lot of people from being vain.”

“It gives ugly people like me hope to see something written on their wrist,” Marty joked.

“I don’t think you’re ugly,” TJ told him. Marty felt himself blush for the first time in TJ’s presence, and he hated that it was that sentence specifically.

“Well,” Marty said, licking his lips, “I don’t think you’re ugly either.”

“I know I’m not,” TJ turned to him a smirk on his lips.

“Wow, the universe gave me someone with an ego? Hot,” Marty sighed sarcastically, getting a playful shove from TJ.

“At least the universe gave us someone,” TJ smiled. Marty looked at his smile for a moment, and studied it, almost as if he were learning biology for the third time in his life and he was starting to recall things from previous grades. His smile was so familiar. “Have you ever met someone without a sentence? It’s kind of off, scary even. It usually means they’re going to die young. That’s how it was with my cousin. He got hit by a car when I was little.” Marty bit his lips, the frog loving boy coming back from the furthest layers of his memory.

“What’s your last name?” Marty asked him.

“Kippen,” TJ answered. “You can keep it if you want.”

Marty rolled his eyes, a smile on his face. TJ was starting to loosen up a lot more with him, and it made him happy. He still kind of wished he hadn’t met him so soon. He felt like they needed to plan their wedding already, and they weren’t even dating.

“Was your cousin Alexander?” Marty whispered. TJ turned to him, an eyebrow raised.

“Yeah,” TJ nodded, “that was him. Did you know him?”

“He lived next door to me. He was my best friend,” Marty told him, a small smile on his face.

“Wow,” TJ muttered, “small world.”

“It is, isn’t it?”

-

Sophomore year of high school, Marty told his parents that he had found TJ. They were absolutely freaking out because he was one of the lucky ones that met their soulmate so young, but at the same time, they mentioned something about having to plan his whole life around TJ.

Marty really felt like that was the only year him and TJ didn’t acknowledge each other as much, and they were fine with it.

“When the time comes for us to get together, we’ll know,” Marty assured TJ who was still lost about the whole thing. “Don’t worry about me right now. Even if it takes a few years for us to get together, we’re going to be fine when we do because we’re soulmates.”

So, they didn’t talk, sometimes months in a row. TJ was occupied with his sports, Marty with his own. They had no classes together again and found themselves in different friend groups. Marty was the one who heard from someone else that TJ had been asked if he had found his soulmate, to which he replied with, “Yeah. It’s Marty from the track team.” Marty was glad to know that he wasn’t embarrassed of him.

Then sophomore year finished and a week into summer break when TJ knocked on Marty’s window. Marty was watching Netflix on his laptop, and the knocking scared him, causing him to jump up.

“It’s me, TJ,” he said. Marty took in a deep breath and exhaled before walking up to the window to let him in. “Hey,” TJ said nonchalantly.

“What are you doing here?” Marty asked. “It’s like, 9PM.”

“It’s not late,” TJ shrugged. “I was bored and wanted to see my soulmate.”

“A text would’ve been nice,” Marty told him, his heart still beating fast. “You scared the living lights out of me.”

“Sorry,” TJ grinned nervously, scratching the back of his head. Marty noticed he didn’t have his hair done at all, so instead of his usual 50 coats of gel, it was just fluffy, and strands were falling down to his eyes. “I just, told my parents about you tonight. They’re happy I met you, but they want us to start dating or something weird like that.”

“We don’t have to,” Marty told him, sitting down on the end of his bed. He patted the spot next to him so TJ could sit down. “We can fake date if you want.”

TJ turned to him and smiled, “Really?”

“We’re going to get married eventually, but I still want to break some track records. If we start going out on pizza dates, I’m going to start gaining weight. This benefits me, too.”

“Sounds like a good deal,” TJ agreed, laying back on Marty’s bed. “We went to visit Alexander today. That’s how I remembered to tell them. I mean, I haven’t been forgetting. Just been putting it off for a while.”

“I told my moms a while back. They’re fine with whatever we have going on at the moment. They just said we have to plan out our entire futures based on each other, and I think that’s weird.”

“Isn’t it,” TJ asked. “Like why do they want me to fall in love with you right now? We got our whole lives.”

“Can I at least request we do it before we’re 30,” Marty joked, laying down next to TJ. He smelled really good surprisingly to Marty. He thought to himself that he probably put on cologne before going over.

“That’s fair,” TJ told him, a small smile on his face.

-

Only, it didn’t take them until they were 30s to become absolutely smitten with each other.

Marty always went to the basketball games winter of junior year after his own practices to go watch TJ. It was just something he liked to do, and when people caught him on the bleachers staring right at Kippen, they’d ask him, “Is he your soulmate or what?”

“Yeah, actually,” Marty would smile at them and show him his wrist that was steal bound in leather. Marty got really popular during basketball season because the universe wrote in the stars that he’d marry basketball star TJ Kippen.

TJ noticed Marty at the games, but he never crossed paths with him. He always left too early or TJ had plans with his friends. It was then when TJ had texted Marty after a Friday night game and asked him to wait for him.

Freezing in his hoodie, Marty waited in the school parking lot for TJ. His moms rarely let him stay out that late, but when he said it was TJ, they seemed throw all care to the wind. He was starting to think the whole soulmate assignment wasn’t so bad. There was some part of its culture that benefited people.

“Hey,” TJ walked up to Marty, his hoodie also up, hands shoved inside his pockets. He had his duffel bag swung around him. “Want to catch a scary movie? You said you like them right?”

“Yeah,” Marty nodded his head, smiling. “Is this our first date? I would’ve dressed for the occasion,” Marty joked.

“Please,” TJ said, “I’m in sweats and sandals. I’m not exactly getting an award for best dressed.” The two walked towards the nearby movie theatre, chatting about the game, TJ asking him questions about his teammates and what he thought of the team.

When they got to the theatre, TJ paid for the their tickets and snacks before they went to the very back row and sat in a corner.

“Did you bring me back here to make out?” Marty teased him. “I’ve been wanting to watch this movie for a while so the most I’ll let you do is hold my hand.”

“I didn’t, actually,” TJ let out a small laugh, “but I’ll gladly hold your hand, still.” So, he did.

Marty always thought books were speaking complete bullshit when they said the couple’s hand fit together so perfectly as if they were always meant to be together. But they were right. Holding TJ’s hand was comfortable, and it felt right because it was. He was always going to find him, and for once, he was appreciating the fact that he found him so early in his life.

TJ jumped most of the movie, squeezing Marty’s hand tighter when he did, sending an instant smile to his face. Marty was immune to scary movies because of how many he had seen by himself. He wondered how often TJ watched movies or if he was more of a comedy type of guy. He had known TJ for three years now, and he barely knew anything about him. It was kind of weird the more he thought about it, but it was what they had agreed on. He had the rest of forever to get to know him.

When they exited the movie theatre, TJ was still holding onto Marty’s hand.

“Are you going to be a wuss for the rest of the night?” Marty laughed at him as he turned back every other minute.

“It was a scary movie, okay?” TJ pouted, making Marty smile even more.

“Wow, considering how scary and unapproachable you look sometimes I didn’t expect you to be scared of movies?”

“Am I really scary looking?”

“Sometimes,” Marty admitted. “You don’t look like you’d surprise me for valentine’s day or anything.”

“Well, not now,” TJ mumbled. “But if that’s what you want in the future, then I’ll do it.”

“I’m just pulling your leg. But you do look like you’re too cool to talk to anyone else. You kind of are. I’m still starstruck considering how good you play.”

“You think I’m good?” TJ asked him, a small smile in the corner of his lips.

“TJ, we both know you’re not just good at basketball, you’re good good at basketball.”

“People tell me but I usually don’t care, so um, thanks,” TJ said, squeezing his hand. “I guess it means something when you tell me.” The walked to the park where the lake was and TJ pulled out a blanket from his duffel bag again.

“Do you just carry that with you?” Marty chuckled as he sat down next to TJ. He wanted to get close to him, but he didn’t know if TJ was up to do that.

“Only when I know I’m going to see you,” TJ admitted, laying back to look at the stars. Marty looked down at TJ, and TJ patted the empty spot next to him.

“Are you trying to cuddle with me?” Marty smirked, making TJ roll his eyes. It was dark, but Marty knew he had made him blush.

“I’m just suggesting it, you don’t have to,” TJ refused to make eye contact as he spoke. Without thinking it over, Marty laid down next to TJ, the other boy’s arm under him.

“Is your arm going to fall asleep?” Marty asked TJ as he snuggled into his shoulder. He still smelled nice, even after a basketball game. He was strangely warm, too. TJ was the only person he’d ever freeze his ass off for now that he really thought about it.

“Don’t worry about it,” TJ told him. They stayed silent for a moment, watching the stars and the moon dance, the whispers from the trees cooing in their red ears. “Do you remember Alexander?”

“Not a lot of him, but I do,” Marty said. “I was sad about him for a really long time. He’s the reason I started running.”

“Really?” TJ asked, surprised. “That’s interesting to know.”

“He taught me how to play basketball, too, but it was never my thing.”

“Yeah,” TJ said. “We’re a basketball family. Do you remember his sisters the twins?”

“Pamela and Macy?”

“Yeah, they’re great at basketball, too. Pamela plays for a community college team right now, and Macy could’ve played, too, but she just wanted to focus on school. She wants to be a doctor or something.”

“Wow,” Marty whispered. “I haven’t heard about them in years. They moved right after the funeral.”

“Yeah,” TJ said. “My aunt didn’t want to be in Shadyside anymore. It hurt her too much. They moved to Arizona where my her family was instead.”

“How was Alexander your cousin?”

“My dad and his dad were brothers.”

“You and Alexander have the same smile. The “nothing is going to get in my way” smile. It’s nice,” Marty told him, moving in closer to TJ. He liked having him that close to him. Nothing was official yet, but their fates were sealed. It was relaxing.

“It’s a Kippen thing, I guess,” TJ said. He was silent for a moment before he started to chatter on, “It was weird, honestly. Because we all knew Alexander wasn’t going to live long enough to get married, but we never said it. We never appreciated him just a little extra because we didn’t think he’d die so little. Alexander never knew what not having anything written on his wrist meant. I didn’t know what it meant until I was older and things clicked. He was just so happy all the time.”

“He was my favorite person,” Marty admitted. “He was the coolest dude on the block, I swear.”

“I bet,” TJ let out the tiniest of laughed. “He had a certain thing about him. He was the only other boy in the family. I’m stuck with nothing but girls.”

“How many siblings do you have?” Marty asked him.

“I have one sister,” TJ told him. “She’s graduated last year. Amber Kippen. She also did basketball.”

“I think I remember her,” Marty said. He didn’t.

“But I have like eleven cousins. All girls. It’s crazy, honestly. How about you?”

“Only child of only children,” Marty told him. “But older relatives and great aunts and uncles come out of nowhere to visit and give me money, so it’s great.”

“Christmas must be so peaceful,” TJ told him.

Marty snorted, “Goodness no. My moms are both coo coo heads. They always make us do some dumb things. Last year my mom loaded up three nerf guns with spaghetti sauce and we fought in the snow barefoot. Then the year before that, we threw away all of our plates and stuff. Like, all of it.”

“Why?”

“Because one mom wanted to buy new plates but the other one said we already too many at home. Then they both agreed it was all old and tossed it all out. Forks and spoons and everything. I don’t even know how they got to that agreement. They got me a set of spoons for Christmas that year.”

“Wow, they really are soulmates,” TJ told him, sounding as if he were in awe.

“Yeah,” Marty shifted his head to look at TJ as much as he could, “they are.” TJ’s eyes met Marty’s for a second, and he gave him a small smile, sending a flush of heat to Marty’s face, his heart starting to run fast. Those smiles were going to be his biggest weakness.

“You’re my soulmate,” TJ said as if he were asking a question.

“I guess so,” Marty told him, looking away. Nothing felt real at that moment.

“You know how we’ve been waiting for a while already to date?”

“Yeah?”

“I think,” TJ whispered, “I want to date you now. I want to do stuff like this with you more often.” Marty quickly sat up, trying to process what he was telling him. Marty didn’t know if he should smile, laugh, cry, or even run away. He knew this conversation would come sooner or later, but he didn’t realize how happy he’d be.

“You do?” Marty smiled down at him, feeling like a little kid.

“Yeah,” TJ nodded, not looking in his direction.

“TJ,” Marty asked, quietly, “can I kiss you?” TJ’s eyes quickly darted in his direction, and he slowly nodded before Marty leaned forward, kissing his soulmate.

 

**Author's Note:**

> I FINALLY wrote happy tarty omg ;-; It was a whatever ending, but I was not taking an uncompleted story into 2019. Happy new years btw! This was my last piece of 2018.


End file.
